Stuart the Apple Tree

There was an apple orchard in Gran Ma Ma’s town. Every summer, Nilo picked apples with Gran Ma Ma at the orchard and then she would make him an apple tart. He loved her apple tarts. They had a pretty swirl of apple slices layered on top and filled the house with the smell of apples and butter.

One summer on their way to visit Gran Ma Ma, they drove by a sign planted in the corner of the orchard with the word “SOLD!” printed in bold red letters. Nilo watched in horror with his nose pressed against the window as machines spit out wood chips and turned up tree trunks. Tree roots stuck in the air as if waving for help. More than half of the apple trees were cut down.

“Look, Nilo, it will be a grocery store,” his mom said, pointing to another sign that read “Coming Soon!”

“No! This is terrible!” He wailed in the car. “How is Gran Ma Ma going to make apple tart?!”

“From the grocery store, silly,” his mother chuckled. “It’ll be much more convenient for Gran Ma Ma to have a store this close.”

When they arrrived at Gran Ma Ma’s house, she patted Nilo’s head, absentmindedly. Nilo thought it was strange that she did not smile the way she usually did. The next day when they went on their morning walk, more apple trees were gone. Nilo watched Gran Ma Ma’s face carefully as she stopped and took a long sad look at the orchard.

“Are you sad that the orchard is going away, Gran Ma Ma?” He asked, slipping his hand into hers.

She gave his hand a squeeze. “Ah, when you’ve lived as many years as I, you’ll know that the only thing you can count on to always be there, is change itself.” She put an arm around his shoulder. “A grocery store will be nice… but I will miss these trees. If I knew they would be cut down so soon, I would have let you climb on them all you wanted last summer. Sorry for yelling at you to come down.” She looked more sad.

Nilo smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay, Gran Ma Ma. I can climb other trees.” He surveyed the remaining trees and noticed a sapling, hidden under a large apple tree, in the corner of the lot. Maybe, he thought, if he could save one tree, then Gran Ma Ma would smile again.

That night, he snuck out of the house and dug up the sapling with a spoon that he borrowed from the kitchen. His heart pounded in his chest while he fumbled to put the roots of the sapling into a bag that he had brought. He hid it behind the wood stack in Gran Ma Ma’s backyard. Nilo decided to keep it a secret until the tree grew apples before giving it to Gran Ma Ma – otherwise, how would she make apple tart? When his parents came to pick him up at the end of summer vacation, he told them about his plan and they agreed to keep it a secret. They took the apple sapling home with them.

During the last year of elementary school, Nilo looked after the apple sapling. He watered it immediately after he came home from school. After he watered it, he would pull up a chair next to it and tell it stories about Gran Ma Ma and the orchard that it came from. He built a fence around it with his dad’s help to keep away the raccoons and squirrels. On rainy days, he even held an umbrella over it so that it wouldn’t catch a cold. And on hot days, he wrapped an ice pack around the trunk. Nilo named the apple sapling Stuart.

Stuart grew at a remarkable rate. The branches grew thicker than Nilo’s arms and soon, Stuart was taller than Nilo on his tiptoes. One spring day, there was a sudden rainstorm. Nilo rushed outside with an umbrella to make sure Stuart didn’t get soaked but quickly realized that he was too short to cover Stuart. “You’re getting big,” he said. “I guess you don’t need an umbrella anymore.” He folded the umbrella away and stood warm and dry under Stuart, watching the raindrops slide off the leaves around him.

That summer, the family visited Gran Ma Ma again and brought Stuart in the truck. “Are you ready to meet Gran Ma Ma? Are you ready to go home?” Nilo asked Stuart.

Stuart’s branches flapped wildly as they drove. Nilo laughed as it reminded him of a dog sticking its tongue out of a car window. They passed by the spot where the orchard once was. The ground where Nilo dug up Stuart was now a parking lot surrounded by the grocery store, restaurants and shops.

They arrived at Gran Ma Ma’s house where she greeted them with hugs, but still, Nilo noted, no real smile. There was no apple tart waiting for them on the kitchen counter either. Nilo’s mom took Gran Ma Ma to the grocery store to get ingredients for lunch while Nilo and his dad stayed to set up the surprise.

They slipped outside and moved Stuart from the bed of the truck into Gran Ma Ma’s backyard. There, they dug a hole and planted Stuart in the corner of the yard. Nilo wrapped a red velvet bow around Stuart’s trunk. “It’s almost time!” he cheered, patting the trunk.

They spent the afternoon with Gran Ma Ma and then Nilo’s parents left for their summer getaway. “Well, it’s time for us to get going. Take care of Grandma, okay Nilo?” Dad winked as they stepped out the door.

The front door barely shut before Nilo was tugging on Gran Ma Ma’s sleeve. “Gran Ma Ma, I have something to show you!” he gushed.

Together they stepped outside where he showed her Stuart, standing proud in her yard with shiny leaves, branches heavy with ripe apples and the red bow around the trunk. “Oh Nilo,” She gasped. “It’s a miracle!”.

Nilo told her how he saved the sapling the previous summer and cared for it every day. He told her how Stuart grew and grew and how they became friends. Gran Ma Ma wiped tears from her face. “You darling child, aren’t you just the apple of my eye. Stuart is a wonderful apple tree.” A smile spread wide across her wrinkled face. “Let’s make apple tart together!”

She smiled! Nilo’s heart leapt with joy and he jumped up with it. “Let’s!”

Nilo pulled himself onto a low hanging branch and shimmied up, inhaling the scent of apples and giggling as the leaves tickled his face. He picked the best looking apples to toss into Gran Ma Ma’s outstretched apron. It felt like they were back at the orchard again.

Together they went into the kitchen where Nilo scrubbed the apples clean. Gran Ma Ma peeled, diced, and sliced the apples while Nilo helped her mix together the tart dough. After they pressed the dough into the tart pan, Gran Ma Ma cooked the diced apples in butter and they spread a layer at the bottom of the pan. Nilo fanned out the apple slices in a spiral on top, sprinkled some sugar, and Gran Ma Ma slid it into the oven.

When the tart was done, Nilo watched eagerly as Gran Ma Ma brushed an apricot jam glaze over it, transferred two slices onto plates and topped both with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Humming, she brought the plates outside and together they took a seat on the patio chairs under Stuart’s cool shadow.

As Gran Ma Ma passed Nilo his plate, he noticed that the corners of her mouth were still turned up in that smile that he had hoped to see all year. He smiled up at Stuart swaying happily in the evening breeze and knew that Stuart was smiling too.

Traditional French Apple Tart

makes two 8-inch tarts

prep time: 1 hourcook time: 35 minutestotal time: 1 hour 35 minutes

ingredients

pastry

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk

3 tbsp cold water, or as needed

2 apples, sliced thin

compote

4 apples, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

4 tbsp butter

glaze

1 tsp white sugar, optional for decoration

1/4 cup apricot jelly

ingredients

pastry

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk

3 tbsp cold water, or as needed

2 apples, sliced thin

compote

4 apples, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

4 tbsp butter

glaze

1 tsp white sugar, optional for decoration

1/4 cup apricot jelly

instructions

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt.

Add the softened butter, egg yolk and water, and stir until the mixture forms large crumbs. If it is too dry to press a handful together, stir in more water.

Divide the dough in half. Press each half of the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Flatten slightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm. This part can be done up to 3 days in advance.

Remove the balls of pastry dough from the refrigerator and roll each dough out into 9-inch circles on a lightly floured surface. Fold loosely into quarters and center the points into 8-inch tart pans. Unfold the dough and press into the bottom and up the sides. Prick the bottom and sides of the dough with a fork. Return the pastries to the refrigerator and chill until firm.

To make the compote, melt 4 tbsp butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the diced apples and cover with a lid. Cook until the apples are very soft. Remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a baking sheet inside the oven while it preheats.

Remove the chilled pastries from the refrigerator. Spoon the compote into the pastries and spread into an even layer.

Arrange the apple slices on top of each pastry in an overlapping spiral pattern. Each slice should have one edge pressed into the compote until it touches the pastry base, overlapping the previous apple slice. Start on the outside edge and work towards the center. Reverse the spiral for the second inner circle.

Place the pastry tarts on top of the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling begins to brown.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Sprinkle sugar over the top of the tarts and return to the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until the sugar caramelizes slightly.

Remove from oven and let the tarts cool on a wire rack.

Before serving, warm the apricot jelly, adding water if necessary to make it a liquid consistency. Brush onto the tarts for a nice shine and enjoy!

Author’s Notes

In the kitchen

This recipe is from a pie class that I attended with Chef Gaby from Kitchen on Fire. We interviewed Chef Gaby for our Meet section, so feel free to check out his story to find out what life is like as a French chef. During class, Chef Gaby advised us to add the tablespoons of cold water one tablespoon at a time and stir until the flour mixture forms large crumbs and is moist enough to press a handful together. Depending on the density of the flour (which changes slightly with humidity levels), you may need less or more water. It is always best to gradually add liquids because, while it is easy to make a dry mixture more moist, it is harder to take out the moisture of a mixture that is too wet, and you’d have to re-make the crust from scratch.

In the classroom

What is the difference between a tart and a pie? A pie is made in a pan with a sloped sides and can have only a bottom crust, only a top crust or both. The crust is made to be crisp and flaky. A tart is a dish with shallow sides and only a bottom crust. A tart crust is made to be firm and crumbly. Both tarts and pies have flour and cold water in the ingredients, but pies have salt added while tarts usually add sugar. The fats are different as well, where pies use shortening and tarts use unsalted butter. Tart recipes also call for egg yolk.

In life

My grandmother lives in the heart of Silicon Valley and over the years I’ve watched the area develop and change as tech companies moved in. There is an apricot orchard next to a community center and park where we would take walks when I was a child. The sight of apricots still bring the taste of sweet apricot jam to my tongue, the feel of the soft fuzzy little hairs of the peel on my face and the rough bark of tree branches on my hands. The memory is so vivid, sensual and such a crucial part of my lazy summer days that I can’t imagine how heartbroken I would be to see that orchard get developed into more office space. I hope the orchard will stay for a long, long time. Every apricot season, the neighborhood families come and buy apricots from the stand. I look forward to doing the same this year.